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Expo, Reinhart only options for Thanksgiving trout release Tuesday Dec 6, 2016 at 12:01 AM I was more than a bit bummed that the Cole Rivers Hatchery folks chose to put all those big, nice trout in two of the most boring places to fish in Southern Oregon — Expo Pond and Reinhart Pond in Grants Pass. I know the lakes are low at this time of year, but why couldn't you put them in a nicer place to fish. Even putting them in the Holy Water for the fly-fishers would have been a better choice. — F.F., Ashland We at Since You Asked Central may not be super-excited about fishing at Expo Pond in Central Point, F.F., but they are the only two public lakes or ponds on the Rogue Valley floor, and they are popular with the kiddos. But that's not why hatchery technicians chose those two water bodies for releasing their "show" fish from the hatchery's public viewing ponds just before Thanksgiving. That was the only place they could go to ensure they didn't pass on any fish diseases to wild fish in the Rogue Basin or at the hatchery itself. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is concerned about passing diseases such as a naturally occurring one called IHN to uninfected water bodies, hatchery Manager David Pease says. Normally, hatchery technicians can keep trout isolated and disease-free while they raise them to the 8-inch release size, he says. But these trout spend about two years in the circular ponds as "show fish" that hatchery visitors can check out and even feed, Pease says. They were all about 14 inches long and weighed around a pound, he says. "We don't know what they've been fed," Pease says. "They theoretically could be IHN carriers. "We don't want to take any chances," he says. The only water bodies that qualified for such trout are Expo and Reinhart, which are both completely isolated from other water bodies, Pease says. So it was there or nowhere, Pease says. The Rogue's fly-fishing only impoundment commonly called the "Holy Water" was especially not an option because it flows into the upper Rogue and also provides the water source for the hatchery itself. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.